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About The Name

People ask me all the time about the name of my blog, Little Hollywood. Little Hollywood was the name of the shantytown down along the shores of what is now Capitol Lake, a place where some lively characters of Olympia lived. It was our "Hooverville" from the 1920s through the early 1950s. Well, as we know, our area has a lot of interesting, talented, educated characters, and the point of this blog is to help shine the light on some of our "stars" that might not ordinarily be heard through corporate media outlets. So, the name has a double meaning. And since it's my blog, it's Janine's Little Hollywood. Enjoy!

About Me

Thank you for visiting my blog! As a photographer, I also have a website, http://www.littlehollywoodphotography.com. I love Olympia and meet a lot of people who tell me great stories. I love to learn, and hope this blog of local news will be just another source of information for you. Please don't be shy to leave comments. I have set it up so the comments are private first, until I publish them, so if you don't want your comment published, just tell me so. And oh yeah, I'd appreciate it if corporate media or other news outlets did not steal my stories. Please ask if you'd like to reprint my story in your publication or at least give credit where credit is due if you read it here first. Associated Press standards consider blogs a legitimate news source and should be treated as such. Thank you!

The Tumwater Brewery District will be seeing new
life with the recent purchase of the former South Pacific Restaurant at 3507
Capitol Boulevard.

New building owners Norma and Florante Allarde will soon
bring good food to the corner of Custer Way and Capitol Boulevard near the closed
brewery. They are renovating the dilapidated space into a new Filipino-American
eatery.

The name of the new restaurant is Florante's
Restaurant and Sports Bar.

Norma Allarde says the restaurant will feature traditional
Filipino foods and some American foods.A few common Filipino
dishes include Adobo, Pancit, Lumpia, Sinigang, Kare-Kare, Kaldereta, Menudo, and
Asado.

“Our goal is to open by Spring 2015,” said Allarde
in a telephone interview today. “We’re working with the city, the health
department – everyone’s so excited.”

The Allarde’s bought the restaurant, built in 1964,
on December 16 for $300,000 from Ng Ping. The restaurant has two floors - the
first floor is just over 4,500 square feet, and the top floor is a 528 square
foot loft.

According to Thurston County property records, the
market value of the restaurant has fluctuated: currently it has a market value
of $504,200. In 2011-21012, it peaked at
$843,850.

Allarde admitted that it will be a lot of work to
bring the restaurant up to date.

“It needs a lot of TLC - the whole building is not
up to code – everything’s been grandfathered in for the last 30 years and held together
with Band-Aids with no permits, so we’re going to take it to the basics and
renovate it. We’re in no rush – we’re going to do it right.”

The Allarde’s have many years of experience of ‘doing
it right.’ The Allarde’s own and operate three local adult family homes, Norflor
Manor, two in Olympia, and one in Lacey.

Norma's husband, Florante, is a certified dietary
manager, and currently cooks for the family homes. Coming to the United States
in 1992, Florante learned to cook, and until recently, cooked for Panorama in
Lacey.

“After opening the first one in 2004, I asked
Florante to resign from his position as dietary manager at Panorama to help me
run the home. We've worked together ever since, side by side for almost 10
years now.He has supported me in my
dream to have one adult family home and now it's turned into three homes. It's
my turn to give him support in following his dream of becoming a restaurant
owner,” Norma says.

A nurse for 24 years with an eight year military
background, Norma Allarde says she and her husband met at Panorama when they
both worked there. Norma is proud of
what she and her husband have accomplished so far. "We're not political people. We work hard, live a
quiet life and thank God for everything we have….Florante’s dream has always
been to open a restaurant,” said Norma. “He’s just been looking for the right
place. The South Pacific (location) felt right to him….I fully support him,
just as he’s supported me in my business decisions all these years. It’ll be a
lot of work, but he’s going into it with his eyes wide open. He’s excited – so very
excited!”“Our hope is to provide people with good affordable
food in a place that provides good hospitality and makes people feel at
home...just like back home in the Philippines.”

Above: Capitol Boulevard is a gateway from Tumwater to Olympia. Picture is taken from the corner of the restaurant's parking lot.

The
Brewery District Planning Project

The Brewery District, located near the Deschutes
River, includes the former Olympia Brewery and the triangle of roads formed by
Custer Way, Cleveland Avenue, and Capitol Boulevard. The district extends north
to the Sunset Life property and south to "E" Street.

Planning for the area is a priority of the City of
Tumwater Strategic Plan. The former South Pacific Restaurant is located at
the crossroads of this major gateway between Tumwater, Olympia, and I-5.

The Brewery District Planning Project involves the
city of Tumwater, the Thurston Regional Planning Council, and public input
to develop a vision and transformation of the area around the former brewery. Three community
meetings held in 2013 have helped to gather input on how the area would be
revitalized around the brewery, which closed in 2003.

In 2014, efforts will move toward plan adoption,
along with more open houses and public hearings involving code and zoning
amendments.

Upcoming
Brewery District Events:

January 15, 2014, at 5:30 p.m.: Focus Group Meeting #8
(Fire Station on Israel Road)

February 18, 2014, at 7 p.m.: Joint Planning/City Council
hearing on Brewery District Plan (Open House at 5:30 p.m.)

For
more information about the Brewery District, go to the Thurston Regional
Planning Council, www.tcrp.org or contact Tim
Smith, Planning Manager for the City of Tumwater, tsmith@ci.tumwater.wa.us, (360)
754-4212.

Above: The triangle of roads of Cleveland Avenue, Custer Way, and Capitol Boulevard as seen from the parking lot of Baskin and Robbins ice cream shop in Tumwater. The former brewery is in the distance, behind Florante's Restaurant and Sports Bar.